April 11, 2019
Dear Board,
With the recent presentation of Rob Saxton’s report to the District, School Board and community, IC3S’ original scope of work is now complete. We want to acknowledge and thank the many parties involved, including you, the CSD Board of Directors, the superintendent Dr. Trani, the district administrative and teaching staff, the students and, finally, the members of our community, for their involvement in this lengthy and detailed process.
As we conclude our original scope of work, we’d like to bring to your attention some final “punch list” items for your consideration:
I. REQUESTED DATA:
Mr. Saxton’s scope of work included four areas of investigation:
1. District Budget
2. Governing rule and law
3. Interviews
4. Student programs, opportunities and outcomes
Rob was able to complete all the items in his scope save:
“4d. Compare student outcomes for the in-district students and out of district students through public records if possible
4e. Examine student transfer rates both and in and out of the district.”
As the district did not provide him this information for the given reason of confidentiality concern.
Mr. Saxton strongly recommended that you follow up on these 2 items and we agree. Both the community and the future Vision and Values committee need this information in order to complete their work. There are personnel at the ODE who can provide this report while also providing the level of confidentiality the CSD administration was concerned about. We request this information be provided to IC3S in the next two weeks, we will forward the information to Rob Saxton and we recommend the District also publish this information in some manner for the public.
II. DISTRICT ENROLLMENT:
A. Dr. Trani and Mr. Saxton agreed to disagree when they compared their hypothetical budgets based 871 enrollment. Based on our investigation, we believe the difference can be explained by looking at the multipliers used in the school funding formulas over the projected years. IC3S is willing to have further discussion about this figuring, as is Mr. Saxton.
B. We also recognize Dr. Trani and Mr. Saxton have a difference in their projection of how the District could decrease in student enrollment and staff size. We feel this is a critical difference to come to a place of understanding how both have reached their numbers and the methodology used. This is also a topic we’d like to have further discussion on with the School Board and District.
We appreciate and support the District and Board’s motivation to follow Rob’s recommendation in starting a Vision and Values committee as soon as possible and will support this effort, as requested. There are a few items we request be further clarified.
III. RECOMMENDATIONS:
We request you have a discussion and clarify:
In the concerted effort to build a covenant of commitment between the school and school community at large, we recommend the Vision and Values committee be conducted with transparency, inclusivity and efficiency. We see clear lines of communication being critical for the transparency, a representative and large enough committee needed for inclusivity and a hired facilitator for efficiency. Thank you for considering our perspective on this matter.
In closing, we want to thank you for your willingness to approve of Rob’s independent analysis of the District. We are available to support you, the Board, on future items related to this initial scope, if requested, and we look forward to seeing the results of the work from the forthcoming Visions and Values Committee.
Respectfully,
IC3S
Mikaila Way, Andrew Kurkinen, Cless Woodward, Brad Garrett & Jeff Aho